as it was before; back to the original state
Used adverbially to describe returning something to its previous condition or state. Often appears with verbs like 戻す, 直す, or なる.
壊れた棚を元の通りに直した。
I fixed the broken shelf back to how it was before.
部屋を元の通りに片付けてください。
Please tidy up the room the way it was.
Standard kanji-kana mixed spelling.
Variant with とおり in kana; common in informal writing.
Phrase composed of 元 (もと, 'origin') + の (possessive particle) + 通り (とおり, 'way, as'). Literally 'in the way of the original'.